BROOMFIELD — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is giving Aktivax Inc. $16 million to supplement development of a separate injectable chemical weapons treatment.

The new grant from the department’s agency in charge of civilian preparedness would fund the development of an injectable form of pralidoxime chloride, an antidote to sarin, VX and other nerve agents for use in the case of a chemical attack.

The HHS grant comes a week after the Department of Defense awarded Aktivax $24.5 million in a five-year contract to produce an injectable version of Scopolamine, a compound used in humans to treat motion sickness, but shown in animal studies to reduce the immediate symptoms of poisoning by sarin gas and other nerve agents.

The compound would require approval from federal drug regulators before production can begin. Aktivax expects to receive approval in 2022.